Tag: Tiger Woods

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PGA Tour

Tiger Woods drops the crutches. The GOAT recorded in LA walking with full weight on his right leg.

Tiger Woods says bye to the crutches and the walking support. Woods was seen walking in a hotel in LA few days ago. Although these are great news, his struggle to walk solidly and confidently in their footsteps is noticeable. The protective compression leg sleeve remains in place and he is walking with a limp. The 82-time PGA winner is recovering slowly by shortly.

Back in February 2021, Tiger was involved in a very dramatic car accident that limited him from walking or even moving his right leg. It was only a month ago, in October, when he stepped on a golf course supporting his son Charlie. From then on, he continues to work on being able to perform normally as a dad first, as golf has become secondary.

Tiger Woods in Oct. 9th in Florida watching his son compete at a junior event.(@TWlegion)

It would be silly to think that the professional career of such a legend is over, but clearly there is still a long way ahead until we can see Tiger from behind the ropes teeing up again. His good friend and teammate, Justin Thomas only has positive words about the situation. Thomas is certain that Tiger will go far and beyond trying to get back on the field as soon as possible. The GOAT knows that hard work pays off, and now it is time to work on his full recover.
The show must go on.

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Professionals

Watching his son: Tiger Woods back on the course

Tiger Woods was spotted at a Junior golf Event his son Charlie took part in. (source: Twitter.com/GolfWRX)

Since his serious car accident at the end of February this year, Tiger Woods has made himself scarce. Understandably so, because it is still completely open whether he will ever return to the Tour. The superstar is still concentrating on his recovery and is intensively attending to his rehab. Pictures have hardly been seen of him. Only one post on Instagram shows the 45-year-old on crutches with his dog in April.

Now he has been spotted without a walker for the first time since. He was back on the golf course with his girlfriend Erica Herman as a spectator at his son Charlie’s golf tournament. Admittedly, a serious statement about the state of his recovery cannot be read from the pictures. But there seems to be some progress, otherwise Woods would not be on the road without crutches.

Tiger Woods back on the course

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Highlights Tours

10: If 2020 was a golf shot

With just 10 days to go until this year’s Masters, let’s recap one of the low points from last year.

If you can cast your mind all the way back to November last year, you’ll remember one of the most gut-wrenching moments of last year: Tiger Woods’ 10.

The five times Masters champion disappointed fans by hitting 10 strokes at the par 3 12th hole at Augusta during the final round of the 2020 tournament in November last year. 

More from the countdown series: Masters winners by nationality

The defending champion made an incredible comeback in 2019, winning the Masters for the first time in 14 years following a string of various physical injuries.

After much deliberation and confusion about the direction of the wind, Woods shot the ball into the water a total of three times, the last time from a bunker on the other side of the green. 

“I committed to the wrong wind,” he said afterwards, “I thought the wind would come off the right but it came off the left”.

“This is unlike any other sport, you’re so alone out there, you have to figure out how to fight”.

Just goes to show that even legends make mistakes sometimes.

Woods was hoping compete at this year’s event before a car crash in the Los Angeles area last month that left him with severe leg injuries.

He is currently in recovery and is undergoing physical therapy. Many celebrities and famous figures reached out to offer their support.

Fans, while disappointed that he won’t be participating in this year’s Masters, have been expressing their relief on social media that the crash had not been fatal or caused any more serious injuries.

This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.


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Live

Watch: Professionals make Tiger Tributes

Rory McIlroy dressed in Tiger's signature style for the first time in his career on Sunday. (Image: Getty)

A handful of players have been praised for their touching show of support to Tiger Woods, following his car crash last week near Los Angeles.

Those paying respects include LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam.

Official statements given via Twitter report that Tiger is recovering and is in “good spirits” in the Cedars-Cinai Medical Centre, where he has received follow-up treatment on Friday.

READ: Reactions to Tiger Woods’ Accident

However, not all players could participate in Sunday’s tribute, with Max Homa, winner of last week’s Genesis Invitational receiving backlash for having not joined in.

His long time hero, Tiger Woods, host of this year’s Genesis Invitational, handed Homa the trophy last weekend in California.

He defended himself, citing his contractual obligations to wear his pre-packed clothes.

It is expected that the injuries sustained in the crash will have a severe impact on Woods’ future in professional golf.

Categories
Highlights Tours

Tiger Woods after the US Masters 2020: “There’s no one more suited to that than DJ”

Tiger, a second nine like we’ve never seen from you, starting with that 10 on the 12th but
then you birdie five of your last six. Take me through what was going through your mind on the 12th hole
and how mentally tough you had to be to finish the way that you did.
TIGER WOODS: Well, I committed to the wrong wind. The wind was off the right for the first two guys, and then
when I stepped up there, it switched to howling off the left, which ‐‐ and the flag on 11 was howling off the left. I
didn’t commit to the wind, and I also got ahead of it and pushed it, too, because I thought the wind would come
more off the right and it was off the left, and that just started the problem from there.
From there I hit a lot more shots and had a lot more experiences there in Rae’s Creek, and then as you said, this is
unlike any other sport in which you’re so alone out there and you have to figure it out and you have to fight and no
one is going to pull you off the bump and you just have to figure it out, and I did coming in.


Question: You said the conditions are getting tougher out there, winds coming from all over the
place. As our leaders start coming down this stretch, what do you think we can expect to see in terms of
the most challenging spots?
TIGER WOODS: Depends on timing. You just have to time it up. You have to commit and time it up with the right
wind. Hopefully the guys, they’ll be talking to their caddies and try to get a beat on it because it just started coming
up now, and it is all over the place. It’s going to be a bit of a challenge for the guys there on the back.


Q: Interesting round out there today?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, to say the least. I’ve hit a few too many shots than I wanted to today, and I will not have
the chairman be putting the Green Jacket on me. I’ll be passing it on.

Tiger Woods: “That’s what makes this game so unique and so difficult mentally”


Q: How much pride do you take in the fight back after 12?
TIGER WOODS: That’s part of our sport. As I was saying in there earlier, this sport is awfully lonely sometimes.
You have to fight it. No one is going to bring you off the mound or call in a sub. You have to fight through it. That’s what makes this game so unique and so difficult mentally. We’ve all been there, unfortunately. Unfortunately I’ve been there and you just have to turn around and figure out the next shot, and I was able to do that coming home.


Q: How would you sum up the year?
TIGER WOODS: Well, starting out the year, it was like any other year, but we all quickly realized that this year is
unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. We’re lucky to have the opportunity to have our sport continue to go.
Unlike any other sport, our sport is actually growing right now. We never ‐‐ we’ve been struggling with participation
and the growth of the game for a number of years, and unfortunately this is an event and circumstances that’s
allowed our game to grow and flourish. Yeah, but at the beginning of the year normally we would have this tournament in April. We didn’t have that opportunity, but there have been so many people that have put the work into giving us this opportunity to have this event here in November, and all of us who have been a part of it who have been here and been on these grounds participating or just being involved were so very lucky.


Q: How would you sum up your year?
TIGER WOODS: My year? As I said earlier, the year didn’t start off ‐‐ it started off like any other year. I had a busy December and then the normal ramp‐up to the West Coast Swing and then all of a sudden it came to a halt.


Q: Is it any better knowing that this tournament is actually close the next time? It’s less than five months away. It’s normally such a long way for the Masters.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it is normally nine months, and trust me, I know because I’ve had to deal with it, trying to go for four in a row and all the media and dealing with all the different circumstances leading into it. Hopefully if everything continues the way it is going right now, then we’re able to have this event in April.


Q: Given what you go through to get ready to play, obviously it’s the back and just the prep, working out, do you fear the motivation not being there to do this, to keep going, to try to push? Do you expect it to still be there?
TIGER WOODS: Well, there are days when mentally I just ‐‐ it’s harder to push than others just because
physically it’s just ‐‐ my body just has moments where it just doesn’t work like it used to. No matter how hard I try,
things just don’t work the way they used to, and no matter how much I push and ask of this body, it just doesn’t
work at times. Yes, it is more difficult than others to be motivated at times. Yes, because things just ache and have to deal with things that I’ve never had to deal with before.

Photo: Getty


Q: DJ looks like he’s in good shape to win the Green Jacket. You’ve spent a lot of time with him. What impresses you most about him from the time you’ve spent with him?
TIGER WOODS: Well, as we’ve all seen, he’s an amazing athlete. He’s one of the first guys to ever bring
athleticism to our sport. DJ has just an amazing ability to stay calm in tough moments, and in order to win this
event, and we all know as past champions how hard it is, the emotions we have to deal with out there. There’s no one more suited to that, I think, than DJ.

Categories
Highlights Tours

US Masters 2020 Tiger Woods: “I got off to a fast start today”

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 12: Tiger Woods of the United States reacts to a putt on the first hole during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 12, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Tiger Wood remarks on his bogey free first round at the US Masters 2020.

US Masters 2020: Tiger Woods Interview

Q. That was a pretty good start today; can you just talk about the whole day and how you felt?  

TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, I did everything well.  I drove it well, hit my irons well, putted well.  The only real bad shot I hit today was I think 8.  I had a perfect number with a 60 degree sand wedge and I hit it on the wrong shelf.  Other than that, I just did everything well.  The only thing I could say is that I wish I could have made a couple more putts.  I missed everything on the high side.  Putts just aren’t moving, so it’s just different with as slow as they are and then with the weather delay, the amount of rain they’ve had.  The golf course is going to change a lot.  You hear all the SubAir is on, so it’ll change over the next few days. 

Q. What about the rough; it’s higher than ever, right? 

TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, they haven’t been able to put mowers on it, and yeah, it is high.  The guys that drive the ball in the rough, if you have a down grain lie, yeah, you can get to the green, maybe even control it, but you’ve got to    when the grain is sitting down, there’s really no chance, so you’re going to have to rely on short game and angles.  

Q. Was it weird starting on 10 or how did that factor into the round?  

TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, there were a lot of differences today, playing on 1 and 10 today.  This morning I was on the putting green putting and getting ready for my round, and when they were introducing Gary, we were on the putting green and we couldn’t hear them.  There was a drone flying over the putting green.  Down 1 today you could hear the drone over there.  You don’t hear drones here.  There’s no patrons, no roars.  Yes, as the camera guys would say, where did the ball end up, because we just don’t know.  That’s very different.  A lot of firsts today.  That’s kind of the way this entire year has been.  The fact that we’re able to compete for a Masters this year, considering all that’s been going on, it’s a great opportunity for all of us.  

Q. What is the satisfaction level of a fast start at a place where you always haven’t had fast starts?  

TIGER WOODS:  Well, yeah.  I got off to a fast start today, which is good, but I think everyone is.  Everyone is going low out there today.  With these conditions, you have to.  You have to be aggressive.  There’s no reason why you can’t fire at a lot of the flags.  Like today on 5, I hit a little squeezer off the tee and had 227 to the hole, hit a 4 iron to the back edge and it only rolled out a foot.  That doesn’t happen here.  

There are balls    wedges that are ripping back, that you have to watch spin.  That’s probably not the case, you’re trying to find spin around here.  But this is the way the golf course is going to play for the next couple days.  As I said, you can hear all the SubAir is on, so it’ll be a little bit different. 

Q. Did you surprise yourself out there today, even what you knew about your game coming in? 

TIGER WOODS:  Well, I think that understanding how to play this golf course is so important.  I was saying there that I’ve been lucky enough to have so many practice rounds throughout my career with so many past champions, and I was able to win this event early in my career and build myself up for the understanding that I’m going to come here each and every year, and the fact that this tournament is played on the same venue each and every year, you have to (indiscernible) every time.  So understanding how to play it is a big factor, and it’s one of the reasons why early in my career that I saw Jack contending a lot, I saw Raymond contending late in his career, now Bernhard and Freddy always contend here late in their careers.  Just understanding how to play this golf course was a big part of it.  

Q. You mentioned the lack of roars.  Was that something that had an impact on you?  Did you have to get used to not hearing    

TIGER WOODS:  Well, we’re trying to get used to that this entire year.  It’s so different.  Shane was telling me today that it was pretty exciting last week to have the energy level of 200 people out there following his group.  We haven’t had that this entire year.  It’s been very different.  This world that we live in is not what we’ve had the last    throughout my career, and that’s something we’re going to have to get used to for some time.  

Categories
Highlights Tours

US Masters 2020: Tiger Woods: “I expect to contend!”

Tiger Woods talks about his high expectations before The Masters. (Photo: getty)
Tiger Woods talks about his high expectations before The Masters. (Photo: getty)

THE MODERATOR:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, it is always such a great pleasure to welcome back to the media center, our now five time green jacket winner and defending Masters Champion, Mr. Tiger Woods.  Tiger, thank you for spending the time with us for a few minutes here in the media. 

TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, thanks, Rob.  

THE MODERATOR:  19 months ago, Tiger Woods decisively showed the world what determination and grit and resiliency can accomplish with winning his fifth green jacket.  

And the scene on 18 that Sunday, with you embracing your children, and the thousands of Patrons chanting your name was seen by many, if not most, that this was probably one of the most remarkable, exceptional comeback victories in all of sport.  Would you take us back to Sunday, April 14th, as you’re getting ready to tee up    

TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, I’m getting chills about it, yeah. 

THE MODERATOR: On Round 4, two back, what was the range of emotion during that round? 

TIGER WOODS:  Well, it was just a fight and a grind, and just trying to hang in there, trying to make a dent in the lead.  Frankie basically had control of it, and then No. 12 happened and everything flipped.  And you know, a few guys hit the ball in the water there.  I didn’t.  Made par there.  Birdied 13.  Birdied 15, 16.  

I’m still getting chills just thinking about it  feelings, coming up 18, and knowing that all I have to do is just two putt that little 15 footer and to see my family there and my mom and my kids and all of the people that helped support me or were there for me in the tough times, and I was walking up there trying not to lose it, and still saying, hey, I’ve still got to two putt this.  

Then I walked off the back of the green, to see Charlie there, just opened up our arms, it meant a lot to me and still does.  It just reminded me so much of me and my dad, and to come full circle like that, it stills gives me, you know, a little teary.  

THE MODERATOR:  This year marks the 25th anniversary of your first appearance in the Masters. Any thoughts or memories you’d like to share about that first visit?  

TIGER WOODS:  I got a chance to play on Wednesday with Jack and Arnold, and you know, at the time, I was a little punk college student, and we’re playing for some skins, and I didn’t have any cash in my pocket, and you know, Arnold makes a putt on 18.  Takes all the skins away from us.  And Jack and Arnold asked me, “Hey, do you want to go play the Par 3 Contest?”  

I said, “Well, I’m scheduled to go later.” They responded, “Hey, just follow us.”    

Went over with them, went to the Par 3 Contest, and we played together, and that was awesome.  You know, that was one of the most incredible memories I think that I’ve ever had, and the story that I always tell all the amateurs I’ve ever played with, on No. 1, I putted off the green on my first hole.  Putted right in the gallery.  Played with Ollie and chipped it back up and made the putt there, made a hell of a bogey.  Then just pumped it right over the top of the bunker on 2 to start my Masters.  

Q. Because of the unique circumstances in the world, you’ve been the reigning Masters Champion for an unprecedented 19 months.  What’s that experience been like? 

TIGER WOODS:  It’s not how I wanted to retain the jacket for this long.  Obviously this has been an unprecedented circumstance we’re all dealing with.  It’s been incredible to have the jacket and to have it around the house and to share with people, but to have it this long, it’s not the way I want to have it.  I wanted to earn it back in April, but obviously we didn’t have that.  

But we had an opportunity to play this week, which, you know, early in the year, we didn’t think we would have this opportunity.  We are all very fortunate to be able to compete, and tonight, and, well, this whole day, is awfully special.  

I may never have the opportunity to take the jacket off property again, and so this means a lot to me today, and to have this opportunity to have the Champions Dinner and to be able to host it tonight with all the guys that are here, it’s going to be awfully special for me.  

Q. Six events since the restart.  I’m guessing you’re probably not happy with your results. Can you pinpoint what’s been missing?  What’s kept you from contending?

TIGER WOODS:  Well, you know, it’s been either    I haven’t put all the pieces together at the same time, whether it’s I’ve driven well or hit my irons poorly.  Or I’ve put the ball striking together, and I haven’t putted well.  And then I’ve had it where I’ve putted well and I’ve hit it poorly.  

It’s just been, I haven’t put together at the same time.  I haven’t played a lot, obviously.  You mentioned I only played six events.  

But it’s been gearing up for the major championships and trying to understand what we have to deal with, you know, this year with COVID and trying to be safe, and I was hesitant to come back and start playing, and that’s why I waited as long as I did and came back at Memorial.  From there, I really haven’t    as I said, I haven’t put all the pieces together, and hopefully that will be this week. 

Q. Statistically, you look over your career, the first round has not really been yours. Your numbers are pretty pedestrian, when you look at all your big rounds, a second, third and clearly the fourth.  You’ve broken 70 once I think in the first round.  Do you have a mindset here?  Do you just ease yourself into the tournament?   

TIGER WOODS:  You know, Jim, I wish I could pinpoint it and tell you what it is, but I have not historically started off well here.  

I think the times I have shot 70 in that first round, I’ve gone on to win a few of them (smiling).  It’s just one of those weird things I haven’t put together, and the second and thirds round were usually where I made my hay and got myself back into the event or taken the lead in the event.  

Hopefully this year will be a little different and I can shoot a little better score and get off to a better start.  

Q. A lot of talk about Honorary Starters this week. 30 years from now, it’s probably going to be you and Phil.  How does that make you feel thinking about that? 

TIGER WOODS:  You said 30 years from now?  That’s a long time.  You know, the fact that I had an opportunity to watch Byron Nelson and Sam Snead tee off there, and to see even Jack and Arnold and Gary, and now to have Lee start next year, whether it’s Phil and I down the road or whatever it may be, it’s up to the Chairman, and it’s an honor; you start off the Masters.  Hopefully that will be us one day, and I’ll be hitting bombs past him.  

Q. You’re able to talk about two decades of experience and pull stories like playing with Jack and Arnie back then, but you’re also the defending champion.  Where do you feel like you are on that continuum, certainly not a ceremonial player, but do you expect to contend here for this week and years to come, or are you past that point where it’s annual possible?  

TIGER WOODS:  Do I expect to contend?  Yes, I do.  I mean, you look at Freddie and Bernhard, they are in their 60s and they seem to contend.  Jack contended here when he was, what, 58, or 56, 58, whatever it was.  

It can be done.  This is a golf course in which having an understanding how to play and where to miss it and how to hit the shots around here, it helps.  The golf course keeps getting longer.  It gets a little bit more difficult as I’ve gotten older and I don’t quite hit it as far.  

Q. I know this is hypothetical, but do you think you    you’re playing this year without them.  Could you have won it without them?  Is it going to be very strange for you this year not having them?  Did they help you last year? 

TIGER WOODS:  Absolutely they did.  They helped me win.  The support that I had, the energy that was around the property, it was electric that day.  

We all miss the energy of the crowds.  And yes, this year is going to be very different.  It’s going to be stark in what we see, our sights into the greens, the energy that you hear from different roars, from different parts of the golf course.  I mean, you’re on the putting green up on 1 and you can hear eagles down on 13.  That’s what this tournament is all about, and we’re not going to have that this year.  It’s going to be very different.  

It’s one that none of us have ever experienced.  So we’re all going to go through it together at the same time and it’s going to be a very different experience, and you know, hopefully one that I can figure it out and be able to replicate what I did last year. 

Q. Just with regard to Bryson, I’m wondering how much you see what’s going on with him as a flashback to when you came on the scene in ’97, with all the length and everyone is trying to catch up to you, and what your fascination is about what he’s done to transform himself where he’s at right now? 

TIGER WOODS:  Well, back then, there wasn’t the technology to optimize our tee shots and optimize the driver yet.  We were just coming out of basically the persimmon days and coming into metal.  More guys were switching over to graphite instead of steel.  The wound ball was very spinny, and heads were very small, so it was important to hit the ball in the middle of the face.  

Well, I happened to have speed and I happened to hit the ball in the middle of the face and was able to have a little bit of an advantage over the guys.  But now you have the ability to optimize one club, and to be able to use that driver as a weapon, to hit it basically as for as you possibly can, we just didn’t have the technology to be able to optimize that.  

And Bryson has put in the time.  He’s put in the work.  What he’s done in the gym has been incredible and what he’s done on the range and what he’s done with his entire team to be able to optimize that one club and transform his game and the ability to hit the ball as far as he has and in as short a span as he has, it’s never been done before. 

You know, I had speed, and as you say, in ’97, I hit it far.  As I got bigger and I filled out and tried to get stronger, it was to not hit the ball further.  It was to be more consistent and to be able to practice longer.  Actually I got a little bit shorter as I got into my mid 20s and late 20s.  Probably the most speed I ever had, I was 20 years old.  So 21, I still had a little bit more speed, but as I got a little bit bigger, I didn’t hit it as far, but I got better.  

What Bryson has done has been absolutely incredible, and we have all been amazed at what he’s been able to do in such a short span of time; it’s never been done before.  

Q. You referenced the Champions Dinner tonight.  What is your favorite memory from all the past Champions Dinners?

TIGER WOODS:  To see Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead, and drinking milkshakes, that was awesome.  Just to hear the stories of all the guys over the years.  The stuff that we say in the dinners stays between us, and that’s the most awesome part about it is we keep it in house and keep it within the family.  

They are awesome stories and a lot of things I can’t say here that have been said, but they are awesome.  

THE MODERATOR:  Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you, Tiger, very much.  We wish you the very best of luck this week.

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PGA Tour

“The genie’s out of the bag now” – Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods at the Payne's Valley Cup. (Photo: Getty)
Tiger Woods at the Payne's Valley Cup. (Photo: Getty)

Press conference with Tiger Woods:

Q: What’s your plan after the ZOZO Championship?
TW: “I don’t know if I’m going to play Houston or not. I’m not playing next week, and we’ll see how this week goes and make a decision from there.”

Q: What do you make out of the distance chase going on in professional golf right now?
TW: “Distance has always been an advantage. Now that we have the tools, that being the launch monitor, the fitting of the golf clubs, the adjustability. I think all that plays into the fact that you’re able to maximize the capabilities of a driver.
There’s no reason why you can’t pick up more yardage, and guys have done that. They’ve changed shafts, they’ve changed lofts, they’ve changed weights on their heads and length of clubs. Driving is such a huge part of the game and it’s so advantageous if you’re able to get the ball out there. It just makes the game so much easier.”
“They should have been worried a long time ago, but the genie’s out of the bag now. It’s about what do we do going forward, and how soon can they do it. I don’t know if they’re going—you’re not going to stop the guys who are there right now. Guys are figuring out how to carry the ball 320-plus yards, and it’s not just a few of them. There’s a lot of guys can do it. That’s where the game’s going.
There’s only going to be a small amount of property that we can do, we can alter golf courses. I just don’t see how they can roll everything back. I would like to be able to see that, as far as our game, but then we go back down the road of what do you bifurcate, at what level? So that’s a long discussion we’ve had for a number of years, for 20-plus years now, and I think it’s only going to continue.” 

Q: Where is your game right now?
TW: “My game’s definitely better than it was at the U.S. Open,” “I feel a little bit more prepared, a little bit better, and hopefully that translates into playing the golf course.”

Q: Can you think of one significant moment that would illustrate what it’s like to play at Augusta, one big cheer that you remember the most?
TW: “Davis and I were paired together the final round of ’98 and Jack made a run. We were the group ahead. We knew it was Jack behind us, but the roars were so much louder than — those were Nicklaus roars.”

Q: Is it hard to maintain your focus when people are loud?
TW: “You hear the roars, yes, but everyone settles back down. That’s one of the neat things about playing at Augusta, is that you don’t have people yelling, you know, ‘Congrats, you got the ball in the air,’ or whatever it is. It’s so different.”

Categories
Top Tours

US Open 2020 Tiger Woods: “I don’t see any reason why it won’t get harder and get more difficult.”

Tiger Woods at the US Open 2020 (Source: Getty)
Tiger Woods at the US Open 2020 (Source: Getty)

Tiger Woods talked to the media after his not so satisfying first round of 73 at the US Open 2020 at Winged Foot. He expects the course to become even tougher over the next few days.

Q. Tiger, talk about the round a bit.

TIGER WOODS: Well, it was a bit of ebb and flow to the round today. I did not finish off the round like I needed to. I made a bunch of putts in the middle part of the round. It seemed like most of my drives on the front nine landed in the fairway and ended up in bad spots, and I tried to stay as patient as possible, and unfortunately just did not finish off my round the way I needed to.

Q. Do you take any positives that you made five birdies, made a bunch of putts?

TIGER WOODS: No, but I needed to finish off the round better, and I didn’t. As I said, I made a few putts the middle part of the round. Seemed like I wasn’t getting anything out of my round early on, and it flipped, and unfortunately I just didn’t finish off the way I needed to.

Q. What did you think of the conditions of the golf course, and was it how you expected or a little bit different in any way?

TIGER WOODS: I thought the golf course was set up fantastic. I thought that what they did with the hole locations were very fair today. It gave us an opportunity to make some birdies, and you look at most of the scores, and the guys took advantage of it.

Q. Do you expect it to keep getting firmer as the week goes on?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I don’t see any reason why it won’t get harder and get more difficult. I just think that the golf course is there to be had. They gave us a lot of opportunities with the hole locations. Obviously they could have made it a lot more difficult if they wanted to, but I thought it was very fair.

Q. Is there any solace knowing it’s going to be such a grind this week that shooting a sub-par first round isn’t anything near —

TIGER WOODS: Well, we have a long way to go. This is a long marathon of a tournament. There’s a lot of different things that can go on. I just wish I would have finished off my round better.

Q. Given how little you’ve played this year, when you strung those birdies together in the middle of the round to kind of reel it back in and preserve it, isn’t that a pretty positive sign for you going forward?

TIGER WOODS: Well, the middle part of my round, a lot of things went my way. Beginning part of the round it seemed like things weren’t going my way. Good tee shots were ended up in the rough in bad spots, and I had a nice little hot run there in the middle part of my round, hit a really good putt at 12, thought it was going to go in and then I lipped it out, and then made two bogeys after that. Didn’t finish off my round the way I needed to.

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Team USA

Tiger Woods still believes he has a chance to win the PGA Championship

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 07: Tiger Woods of the United States plays a shot on the fourth hole during the second round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 07, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Q. Thoughts on the day and what a battle it is out there?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, you know, I drove it great today. That’s one of the things I wanted to clean up from yesterday. I didn’t do as good a job yesterday of driving the ball as I needed to. Today was different. I drove it great. Missed a few irons on the short side. Didn’t get up-and-down.

And I really struggled with getting the speed of the greens today. They looked faster than what they were putting. They were firm coming into the greens, but they weren’t putting as fast as they looked, and then as the day wore on, they got a little more fuzzy and got even slower, and I struggled even a little bit more hitting the putts hard enough.

Q. Some guys were saying the putting green didn’t quite match up —

TIGER WOODS: Oh, they haven’t all week. The putting green is faster than the golf course. It’s been like that all week. Again, but some of the pins were up on crests so you’re putting into the grain early and then you go past the hole, and it’s downgrain. I didn’t want to make the mistake of blowing it past on a few of those holes and I left them short and on the low side.

Q. Can you still win here?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah.

Q. Is it the type of course you can see some big swings on the weekend?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, absolutely. This golf course is — with the dots for tomorrow, they’ve got them in some tough spots. Tomorrow I’m going off early and hopefully I can get it going, drive the ball like I did today, hit my irons a little bit more crisp and be a little bit more aggressive on the putts.

Q. Will a big key be just the speeds, getting that early and getting into a rhythm?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, as I said, for me they looked faster than they were putting. That’s always the toughest combination I’ve always found, making that adjustment. You give it a run, but it just — it’s just not rolling out. Early in the round I had a couple putts that were downwind and the wind was blowing the putts a little bit. J.T. got affected a couple times today with the wind gusts, and I did on one hole pretty badly. Again, if I can get myself in position where like I did today off the tee, I think I can have a really good weekend.

Source: ASAP Sports